Strike for magnetic catches



Nov. 16, 1954 E. M. BoRcHERs ETAL 2,694,592

STRIKE FOR MAGNETIC CATCHES Filed Jan. 2, 1952 Nvsm-Tow l l *Homann United States Patent C STRIKE FOR MAGNETIC CATCHES Earl M. Borchers and Axel W. Alllgren, Rockford, Ill., assignors to American Cabinet Hardware Corporation, Rockford, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application .lanuary 2, 1952, Serial No. 264,556

6 Claims. (Cl. 292-2515) This invention relates to magnetic catches of the type 1n which a magnet fastened to a door abuts against the armature of a strike mounted on the frame of the door, the magnetic attraction between the magnet and the strike holding the door closed. More particularly, the invention relates to a catch in which the armature swivels universally so that it is alined automatically with the magnet when the door is closed.

The general object of the invention is to provide in such a catch a new and improved strike which may be used with different types of door and door frame arrangements and which always fully engages the magnet regardless of the type of door with which it is used.

A more detailed object is to construct a strike with two armatures mounted on a support in such a manner that the support may be fastened easily to different door frames and, in each case, one of the armatures faces the magnet on the door and is tilted into alinement with the magnet when engaged by the latter.

The invention also resides in the novel mounting of each armature on the support to permit a relatively large degree of universal swiveling while providing a rm construction.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be. come apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a magnetic catch employing the novel strike of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 in Fig. 1 but showing the strike applied to a different type of door.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the manner in which the strike is mounted when used with still another type of door.

Fig. 4 is a schematic view illustrating the manner in which the armature of the strike is alined with the magnet.

As illustrated in the drawings, the invention is embodied in a magnetic catch comprising a permanent magnet fastened to the inside of a door 11 with one end 12 of the magnet facing inwardly toward a strike 13 which is mounted as by screws 14 (Fig. 2) on the frame 15 of the door and is adapted to be engaged by the magnet when the door is closed. Preferably, the magnet 10 comprises a short magnetized bar 16 of magnetic material such as Alnico inserted endwise into a cup 17 also of magnetic material with the inner end of the bar 16 lying against the bottom of the cup and the outer end ush with the open end of the cup. The bar is held within the cup concentrically with the cup wall by a ring 18 of nonmagnetic material pressed tightly into the annular space between the bar and the cup. The latter, in turn, is pressed into a anged central hole 19 in a bracket 20 which is formed with smaller holes 21 to receive suitable mounting screws 22 (Fig. 3) and, if desired, the bottom of the cup may be formed with a sharpened locating projection 23 to facilitate mounting the magnet 1t) on the door.

In order that the magnet end 12 may come into full contact with the strike 13, the latter includes a support 24 on which an armature 25 such as a circular plate or disk of magnetic material is mounted for universal swiveling, the armature being generally parallel to the door opening and facing outwardly toward the magnet 10. If the magnet and the armature are not alined, as shown in Fig. 4, the magnet will contact the armature at one side and exert a tilting force (represented by the arrow 26) which together with the magnetic attraction between the two alines the armature with the magnet so that they engage each other around their entire peripheries thereby completing a toroidal flux path (Fig. 2) through the bar 16, the armature 25 and the cup 17.

The invention contemplates the provision of a strike having two armatures mounted on the support 24 by means of a member 27 projecting across the door opening, in an arrangement such that when the support is fastened to the door frame in any one of several different angular positions, one of the armatures will face outwardly to be engaged by the magnet 10, the strike thereby being adapted for use with various types of door and door frame arrangements. Herein such versatility of the strike is achieved by constructing the support 24 from a at metal strip which is bent to form an L with one leg 28 of the L-shaped support having longitudinal slots 29 to receive the screws 14 and, if desired, a small hole 30 for an escutcheon pin or nail 31. The other leg is disposed at right angles to the leg 28 to form the projec tion 27 which supports the armature plate 25 on one sise thereof, and an additional plate 25a on the opposite s1 e.

To illustrate the manner in which the strike 13 is fastened to the frames of various types of doors, Figs. 1, 2 and 3 show respectively the use of the strike in connection with an arrangement such as a double-door cabinet where the only suitable part of the frame to which the strike may be fastened is a shelf 15 or similar horizontal member; in conjunction with a door 11 which when closed is flush with the frame 15'; and as used with a door 11" overlapping the frame 15". ln each case, the leg 28 is fastened to a frame surface which is perpendicular to the door opening, such as the under side of the shelf 15, the side of the frame 15 and the edge of the frame 15", and extends either toward or away from the door opening depending upon the particular type of door with which the strike is used. Thus in the cases of the double-door cabinet and the ush type door, the leg extends away from the door and the armature plate 25 faces outwardly while, when the strike is applied to the frame of an overlapping door, the position of the leg 28 is reversed to present the other armature 25a to the magnet.

Means is provided for supporting the armature plates 25 and 25a on the leg 27 for universal swiveling about centers adjacent the leg 27 so that the plate to be engaged by the magnet 10 will be automatically alined with the magnet face when the door is closed. Herein this means comprises a pin such as a rivet 32 projecting loosely through an aperture 33 in the leg 27 and through center apertures 34 and 34a in the armature plates 25 and 25a, the apertures 33, 34 and 34L being normally alined and slightly larger in diameter than the rivet 32. The central portions of the plates are depressed around the apertures 34 and 34a forming bosses 35 and 35a on the inner sides of the plates adjacent the leg 27 and outwardly opening recesses 36 and 362L in the other sides. The ends of the rivet 32 are flattened to form heads 37 which are seated in the recesses 36 and 36a below the outer surfaces of the armature plates where they do not nterfere with the magnet as it engages the plates. With this construction, the plates may pivot universally on the rivet 32 about their own centers and also the rivet may rock in a similar manner about a point at the center of the leg aperture 33, either of these motions or a combination of the two being effective to produce the swiveling movement of the armature plates 25 and 25a.

To hold the armature plates 25 and 25a at the ends of the rivet 32, axially compressible spacers 38 are inserted between the plates and the leg 27 and permit the plates to swivel freely while providing a backing for the plates when they are engaged by the magnet 10. As shown in the drawings, the spacers 38 are in the form of rubber rings the center holes 39 of which are alined with the apertures 33, 34 and 34EL to receive the rivet 32. The rings 38 hold the plates parallel to the leg 27 and hence parallel to the door opening in general alinement with the magnet 10 and, since the rings are resiliently yieldable, they are compressed against the leg 27 when 3 the armature plat'es are tilted into true alinement with the magnet. The rings also serve to space the armature plates away from and out of contact with the leg 27 o that the plates may tilt through a relatively large ang e.

According to another aspect of the invention, the arrangement of the armature plates 25 and 25a and the rings 38 on the leg 27 is utilized to mount the plates for a comparatively large degree of universal swiveling movement while using rings which effectively hold the plates against unnecessary wobbling and shifting. For this purpose, the rings are fabricated from firm, solid rubber and are substantially smaller in diameter than the plates 25 and 25a. Since the rings are smaller than the plates, the latter bear against the rings near the rivet 32, in this case at the edges of the bosses 35 and 35a, while the magnet contacts the plates near the outer periphery to exert the alining force. That is, each radial segment of the plates acts as a lever fulcrumed on the rivet 32 with the alining force 26 applied to a lever arm a which is longer than the lever arm b of the restoring force 40 exerted by the rings. Although the solid rubber rings hold the plates firmly on the rivet, the resulting mechanical advantage makes it easy to tilt the plates into alinement with the magnet.

It will be observed that a strike constructed in accordance with the present invention may be used with a wide variety of door types and in every case one of the armature plates 25 and 25a faces the magnet 10 on the door and swivels to become alined with the magnet end 12 automatically when the door is closed. By using rubber rings 38 which are smaller than the armature plates, the rings may be made of comparatively hard rubber so that the plates may be fastened rmly tothe support while still being capable of substantial swiveling.

We claim as our invention:

l. In a magnetic catch or the like, the combination of, an L-shaped support having legs disposed at right angles to each other, two parallel plates of magnetic material disposed on opposite sides of a first leg of said support and having center apertures therethrough, the part of each plate surrounding said aperture being depressed to form a boss on the inner side adjacent said first leg and a recess on the outer side, two rings of resiliently yieldable material respectively disposed on the opposite sides of said first leg between the latter and said bosses, said rings and said rst leg having apertures alined with said first mentioned apertures, and a pin extending loosely through all of said apertures and having heads at opposite ends disposed within said recesses below the planes of the outer surfaces of said plates.

2. A strike for a magnetic catch comprising, in combination, an L-shaped support having legs disposed at right angles to each other and an aperture through a rst one of said legs, rings of resiliently yieldable material disposed on opposite sides of said first leg, each of said rings having an aperture alined with the aperture in said first leg, a plate of magnetic material disposed on one side of said first leg and parallel thereto with the inner side of said plate abutting against one of said rings, a similar plate parallel to the first and disposed on the other side of said rst leg with its inner side abutting against the other of said rings, each of said plates having an outwardly opening recess in the central portion of the outer side and an aperture through said central portion alined with the apertures in said rings and said first leg, and a pin extending loosely through all of said apertures and having heads at opposite ends seated in said recesses below the planes of the outer sides of said plates.

3. ln a magnetic catch or the like, the combination of, an L-shaped support having legs disposed at right angles to each other, two parallel plates of magnetic material i disposed on opposite sides of a first leg of said support, said plates being coaxial with each other and spaced from said first leg, a spacer of resiliently yieldable material disposed between one plate and said first leg, a second similar spacer disposed between the other plate and said first leg, and means joining said plates and said spacers to said rst leg and supporting each of said plates for universal swiveling about a center adjacent said leg.

4. In a magnetic catch or the like, the combination of, a support having a generally at surface, a plate of magnetic material spaced from said surface and disposed in a plane parallel to the plane of the surface, said plate having a center aperture and being depressed around said aperture to form a circular boss on the inner side adjacent said support and a recess on the outer side, a ring of resiliently yieldable material substantially smaller than said plate and disposed coaxially with said boss between the latter and said surface, said ring and said support having apertures alined with said first mentioned aperture, and a pin extending loosely through all of said apertures to mount said plate and said ring on said support and having a head at the outer end thereof disposed within said recess below the plane of the outer surface of said plate.

5. A strike for a magnetic catch comprising, in combination, a support having a generally flat surface, a plate of magnetic material spaced from said surface and disposed in a plane parallel to the plane of the surface, a circular spacer of resiliently yieldable material disposed centrally of said plate between the latter and said surface, the portion of said spacer engaged by said plate being substantially smaller than the plate, and means joining said plate and said spacer to said support and supporting said plate for universal pivotal movement about a center adjacent said surface.

6. In a magnetic catch, the combination of, a support, a pivot pin mounted on and projecting outwardly from said support, a disk of magnetic material mounted on said pin for a universal swiveling, and an annulus of yieldable material smaller in diameter than said disk encircling said pin and compressed between said support and the back of the disk.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 537,746 Boyum Apr. 16, 1895 2,514,927 Bernhard July ll, 1950 2,521,885 Vasquez Sept. 12, 1950 

